Free Republic

The violin played by the bandmaster of the Titanic as it sank beneath the waves is expected to fetch a world record fee for memorabilia from the doomed liner when it goes on sale on Saturday. The instrument belonging to Wallace Hartley was found strapped to his body after he drowned with his seven bandmates and some 1,500 others on board the supposedly unsinkable ship in 1912.

A masked gunman died early this morning after he exchanged fire with a resident inside a Wellington home, authorities said. Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Pete Palenzuela said Heath Miller, a school teacher, killed the intruder, who police have not yet identified.